I m not sure about the new Zen, but I ve had the Zen Sleek, Zen Vision, and the cheaper 4gb one and I m never getting another Creative again....They dont have Playforsure, so I-tunes was a pain in the ass, they re harder to get accessories for. I couldnt get a car dock in the U.S. so I had to order it from overseas. It took about 3 months to get. I recently cracked the screen on the Vision and where I ve had Apple repair an Ipod, Creative would have nothing to do with it. The thing was less than a year old, cost over $350 and its now worthless. I can run it through my computer but even that gives me problems.

Personally I got a Trekstor Vibez because it is one of the most accurate at reproducing music (both straight and what you would hear if listening to it from near or far field speakers), I have never been a big fan of sound enhancements (although at least they are moving away from just pumping the bass up and calling it an enhancement).

Meanwhile, the x-fi is but one of many far superior alternative to the sound of an ipod.

More players are supporting FLAC instead of just MP3/WMA (and Vorbis to a lesser extent) which is a move in the right direction. Unfortunately it looks like the only players with the space for FLAC to be practical are players that don't support it (like the ipod classic).

I like Apple hardware (excepting an iPod which broke a couple months after the warranty expired), but my next mp3 player will certainly not have a fruit logo on the back of it. The reason? ITunes. I hate that little bit of software. It makes some things so hard that should be so easy. I know a lot of people that don't mind it, but a word of warning - it's not for me.

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"We should print up T-shirts! And F-shirts for our friends with two arms on the same side!"

At 200 MHz, the computing strength of vibez is so powerful that you can cross-fade two songs or automatically sort images according to their recording data (EXIF). The Hi-Speed USB 2.0 connection ensures that your images and songs will be transferred to vibez reliably and fast.

At 200 MHz, the computing strength of vibez is so powerful that you can cross-fade two songs or automatically sort images according to their recording data (EXIF). The Hi-Speed USB 2.0 connection ensures that your images and songs will be transferred to vibez reliably and fast.

I JUST REALISED THIS IS THE SAME COMPANY THAT I BOUGHT AN EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE FROM THAT STOPPED WORKING THE 3RD TIME I USED IT! Seems like an alright player but i am soo boycotting this brand after that waste of £35.

I JUST REALISED THIS IS THE SAME COMPANY THAT I BOUGHT AN EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE FROM THAT STOPPED WORKING THE 3RD TIME I USED IT! Seems like an alright player but i am soo boycotting this brand after that waste of £35.

That sucks! :(

I worry about the no-name stuff, especially stuff that is on sale at computer shows. Names like Coby and sanimachibishiha or whatever...there are a hundred of them. I have had no issues with the Zen, and no regrets.

So when I get my new mp3 player, what brand is best? This might be worthy of a poll. I looked at a Memorex 8gb for $100 the other day.Anybody know about this brand? They re a pretty well known name but not exactly *high-end* as so it seems.

Apple seemed a little more compatible, easier to find acces. for, and better customer service. The Creatives sounded better but they ve left a sour "crab-apple" taste in my mouth as far as tech. ease and cust.service...

I ve looked at the Zune, but they re pretty costly, so what makes them need a higher price when compared to the others?

I just want something that sounds good, is easy to work with, and wont cost me an arm n a leg then screw me over when a problem arises(like the Zens have)...and I m gonna have to stay away from that Sanamachbihishiha brand. (thx Trick)lol

i had 2 zens and they both stopped working. To be fair i think my mum broke one of them when she turned off the computer in the middle of a data transfer when i was getting files off it to put on this new computer. But the warranty had run out by then so that was it no more free new players. I was also trying to get files of the old computer onto here when i discovered that external hard drive wasn't working. I got that in 2006 so maybe the new models are better, i remember the old ipods used to be bitches for cracked screens but i think apple sorted that.

Well after a few years of my Ipod, I switched to a Zen Sleek, '06 I think. It worked good but when I bought it the guy at B.B. said it would work with I-Tunes...which it didnt and everything me and my wife had on I tunes had to be transfered to a different format. I m a computer idiot so we had to have a friend do it. No big deal, but after about 8-9 months, it started freezing up constantly. I d reset it but it would only play for about 20 minutes before freezing again. My wife lost her charger adaptor and trying to find a replacement took so long, she gave up and now it sits in a drawer...

I then got a Zen Vision 30gb player '08. It sounded great but the accessories were not available in the US. I wanted the adaptor for my TV and a car dock, for when I drove a truck...I never found the TV cable and the car dock took about 3 months to receive. And was WAY overpriced when compared to Ipod acces. All this time I had no computer so I couldnt charge it with a wall plug, my wife took my computer and that was the only way to charge it. Then all of the sudden the battery started crappin out. It would last for about 5-6 hours. If I went on a 20 hour drive, I was screwed!

Then, a few months ago, I dropped it from about 2 feet onto one of my Ahead sticks(lucky, huh?) and the lcd display cracked. I took out a 4 year warrantee on it and Best Buy said send it to Creative. So after about 2 months, they sent it back saying they would not fix it and there was nothing I could do. So I played it through my computer a few times and it connects only about 25% of the time. Nothing but problems and aggravation from Creative... Yeah they sound good, but Apple was just so much easier to deal with.. huh, my fingers are tired now. : P

How about Archos? They have some nice looking players (that got good reviews in Wired magazine, where I heard about them), but their latest generation isn't all released yet. There's the 5s and 7s, or more basic 405s, 605s, etc. Something to check out - they seem legit, but I bet the price is a bit high due to the limited distribution (compared to Apple).

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"We should print up T-shirts! And F-shirts for our friends with two arms on the same side!"

How about Archos? They have some nice looking players (that got good reviews in Wired magazine, where I heard about them), but their latest generation isn't all released yet. There's the 5s and 7s, or more basic 405s, 605s, etc. Something to check out - they seem legit, but I bet the price is a bit high due to the limited distribution (compared to Apple).

There are a bunch of people here with Archos players. As movie players, these things have a generous screen size and an output for tv. They are great!

I got the zen-xfi first, and the x-fi sounds better, but the archos is better everywhere else.

How about Archos? They have some nice looking players (that got good reviews in Wired magazine, where I heard about them), but their latest generation isn't all released yet. There's the 5s and 7s, or more basic 405s, 605s, etc. Something to check out - they seem legit, but I bet the price is a bit high due to the limited distribution (compared to Apple).

There are a bunch of people here with Archos players. As movie players, these things have a generous screen size and an output for tv. They are great!

I got the zen-xfi first, and the x-fi sounds better, but the archos is better everywhere else.

Quote:

Originally Posted by remoking

I agree. I had the Archos Gmini a few years back.

And on top of all that, there's no necessary software - drag and drop! Forget iTunes. Throw in the Wi-Fi and PDF readability and it sounds like I know what to spring for when my iPod Classic dies. What kind of TV output do they have? I couldn't find anything about it on their site, except for DVR stuff.

Edit: And it runs on Linux!

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"We should print up T-shirts! And F-shirts for our friends with two arms on the same side!"